Draft:Food processing level

• Comment: Please consider commenting on the proposal at Talk:Food_processing#Roos_taxonomy_of_food_processing_levels. (— 𝐬𝐝𝐒𝐝𝐬 — - talk) 12:17, 8 September 2025 (UTC)

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Not to be confused with Food additives.

Food processing level (FPL) is a parameter used for grouping of food processing according to physical and (bio)chemical changes taking place in food materials during processing. Definition of the extent of processing benefits from the use of an ordinal level of measurement. Arbitrary grouping of processed food using nominal scales, such as extent of change, nature of change, raw material sources, ingredients used, place of processing, purpose of processing, traditional, novel and other type of treatments is often criticised.^[1] Ranking of food processing at an ordinal scale at any stage from food production in agriculture to eating by consumer describes the extent of food processing using the order of the different levels of processing.

Processed food classifications often identify processing as a criterion for the grouping of processed foods.^[1] Some processed food classifications, such as the Nova classification, emphasise the role of processing in the development of obesity and noncommunicable diseases.^[2] The public health interest is particularly in the Nova category of ultra-processed foods, a highly processed foods category, which often causes controversy on whether ingredients of processed foods or food processing relate to adverse health outcomes.^[3][4]

Food processing categories

Food processing results in physical and (bio)chemical changes in food materials independently whether processing involves home cooking, food services or industrial food manufacturing. Food processing is typically covered by food engineering, biochemical engineering and chemical engineering disciplines. Description of processes relies on understanding physical phenomena occurring in unit operations and kinetics of (bio)chemical reactions in unit processes which form the building blocks of food processing^[5]. Food processing categories with typical processes are given in Table 1.

Table 1. Food processing categories and levels (FPL)^[6]

Processing category	FPL	Object	Result	Typical processes
Unit operations	0	Minor physical change.	Retention of natural food characteristics.	Washing, hulling, peeling, mixing, blending, forming, shaping, molding, shredding, cutting, sieving, screening, filtration, centrifugation, refrigeration, freezing.
	1	Major physical change.	Intense physical operation and disintegration of natural cellular structures.	Grinding, milling, mincing, pressing, brining, salting, coagulation, gelling, emulsifying, homogenization, whipping, high pressure processing, blanching, pasteurization, water extraction, concentration, membrane separations, crystallization, evaporation, distillation, steaming, drying.
Unit processes	2	General food processing but minor chemical changes.	Physical, chemical and enzymatic changes as part of food preparation, processing and traditional fermentation.	Baking, boiling, brewing, canning, cooking, grilling, frying, fermentations, simple extrusion, smoking, UHT processing, electrodialysis, ion exchange.
	3	Chemical processing.	Major chemical and compositional changes.	Toasting, puffing, solvent extraction, chemical and enzymatic refining, chemical processing, extrusion cooking, irradiation, starch and carbohydrates processing, biotechnological processes.

Food processing level

Food processing levels (Table 1) indicate the object and result of food processing and provide means for the use of the extent of food processing at an ordinal scale for various purposes, e.g., processed food classification. The relative impact of FPL on the expected extent of food processing results from the combined effects of physical and chemical changes during food processing as is described in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Expected relative food processing extent resulting from physical and (bio)chemical changes during processing at different food processing levels (FPL).

Studies of food processing impact on public health and other outcomes, such as affordability, energy efficiency, food safety and sustainability benefit from the use of FPL. Several food ingredients, which have different FPL, are often used in food products. The highest FPL used to obtain ingredients and the FPL of their additional processing indicate the FPL of the final food.^[6]. Final food products may be formulated using ingredients from several FPL which, when including ingredients or processing at FPL 3, are assigned to the highest FPL 4^[6]

References

1. Sadler, CR; Grassby, T; Hart, K; Raats, M; Sokolović, M; Timotijevic, L (2021). "Processed food classification: Conceptualisation and challenges". Trends in Food Science & Technology. 112: 149–162. doi:10.1016/j.tifs.2021.02.059. ISSN 0924-2244.
2. "Ultra-processed foods — it's time for an improved definition". Nature. 645 (8079): 7. 2025. doi:10.1038/d41586-025-02750-0. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 40903609.
3. Gibney, MJ (2019). "Ultra-Processed Foods: Definitions and Policy Issues". Current Developments in Nutrition. 3 (2) nzy077. doi:10.1093/cdn/nzy077. ISSN 2475-2991. PMC 6389637. PMID 30820487.
4. Dicken, SJ; Jassil, FC; Brown, A; Kalis, M; Stanley, C; Ranson, C; Ruwona, T; Qamar, S; Buck, C; Mallik, R; Hamid, N; Bird, JM; Brown, A; Norton, B; Gandini Wheeler-Kingshott, CAM (2025). "Ultraprocessed or minimally processed diets following healthy dietary guidelines on weight and cardiometabolic health: a randomized, crossover trial". Nature Medicine: 1–12. doi:10.1038/s41591-025-03842-0. ISSN 1546-170X. PMID 40760353.
5. Saravacos, G. and Kostaropoulos, A.E. 2016. Handbook of Food Processing Equipment, 2nd Ed. New York: Springer Science+Business Media. 775 p. | https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25020-5
6. Roos, YH (2025). "Food Processing Levels and Processed Food Intake Classification". Future Foods. 12 100751. doi:10.1016/j.fufo.2025.100751. ISSN 2666-8335.